In this age of fake meat and vegetable obsessions, animal owners are selecting pet foods that reflect their own preferences. While some of this choice dynamic is clearly beneficial for food quality assurances, cats are an anomaly when it comes to animal protein.
Domestic cats are true obligate carnivores who must eat meat in order to receive certain vital compounds for their long-term health and well-being.
Source: Catster, May 28, 2019. Link. Kittens need more protein than most other animals, and adult cats need two to three times more protein than dogs according to Deborah Linder, DVM.
INSIGHTS: This is important educational information for cat owners, veterinary teams and especially for retailers. To explore this further, I asked about a more vegetarian diet for cats at a specialty pet retailer. They showed me several options that contained very little meat protein. After declining their recommendation, I handed their manager a copy of this article. It seems no one had trained them on cat nutrition needs.
Yes! Animal health pros still have tons of work to do every day educating animal owners! We are obligate educators!